Future Upgrade Query

[Xai]

I have been planning to upgrade my PC - essentially, the CPU, Mobo and RAM. The upgrade is still maybe 1 or 2 months down the line. I had one question, based on which I will plan the budget.

I have a HD 6870 GPU. As of now, I do not have plans to upgrade to a costlier and newer card. However, if I were to buy a second-hand HD 6870 and xfire the two, would that performance be somewhat similar to a single GPU 7870 or R9 270x?

Do you guys think it's a good idea to spend 6-7K on a second hand 6870 for a xfire setup? Or should I save up and buy a newer card (say, R9 280x) instead?

 

[harshilsharma63]

6870 XF will be good IMO.

 

[Xai]

Thanks. I am not a big fan of buying stuff second hand, but if I can get a good quality 6870 and xfire @ around 6-7K, I think I might go for it.

Another question: I have been looking at Intel Xeon E3 1230 v3 processor. This looks almost similar to i7 4770, minus IGP and OC modifier. I can't seem to find it online in India, but it seems to be be priced around $250. When and if it releases in India at a similar price to i5 4670K, will this be a more performance-based alternative (at the cost of overclocking) than the i5 -K series? Especially for games like Battlefield 4, which seems to benefit from hyper threading?

 

[rijinpk1]

yeah. 6870 CF would be the best idea. but i suspect your cpu will bottleneck. you many need to upgrade your cpu.

Another question: I have been looking at Intel Xeon E3 1230 v3 processor. This looks almost similar to i7 4770, minus IGP and OC modifier. I can't seem to find it online in India, but it seems to be be priced around $250. When and if it releases in India at a similar price to i5 4670K, will this be a more performance-based alternative (at the cost of overclocking) than the i5 -K series? Especially for games like Battlefield 4, which seems to benefit from hyper threading?

sure. if you do not want to overclock and will use a gpu always, it is a better choice over i5 k series.
also you can look at e3 1245 v3. it has igpu and slightly lower price than i7 4770.

 

[Xai]

yeah. 6870 CF would be the best idea. but i suspect your cpu will bottleneck. you many need to upgrade your cpu.

Yes. Upgrading CPU, Mobo and RAM are my priorities. GPU was an after-thought I had when I was browsing OLX a few days back

 

[rijinpk1]

Yes. Upgrading CPU, Mobo and RAM are my priorities. GPU was an after-thought I had when I was browsing OLX a few days back

if you are getting good cpu+mobo, then 6870 CF will offer much greater gaming experience than your previous set up.

 

[ASHISH65]

Save up money and get a beast single gpu - you will never regret

 

[rijinpk1]

Save up money and get a beast single gpu - you will never regret

let he upgrade to a capable cpu first

 

[harshilsharma63]

Save up money and get a beast single gpu - you will never regret

He can get the performance of 7850 for just 6500. What is the problem?

 

[Xai]

I am planning i5 4670K, Asus Gryphon and 8 GB of RAM (Ripjaws maybe).

However, this Xeon has got me thinking. I will wait and see the pricing in India.

As it is, I am in two minds about FX 8350 or i5 4670K. I am sure a lot of discussion on this topic has already happened on this subject here. Still I can't somehow shake off the feeling of seeing i5 do better on benchmarks (and AMD reportedly performs bad in WoW - which I tend to play most often). So I am more inclined towards Intel at the moment.

 

[ASHISH65]

2 x hd 6870 will generate a lot heat.hd 6870 x 2 consumes around 350w

 

[Vish2a9l]

with that, get a hyper 212 evo also.

2 x hd 6870 will generate a lot heat.hd 6870 x 2 consumes around 350w

I think TX 650 will handle it..so no worries on that!

 

[ASHISH65]

^ he is also gone a upgrade his cpu + oc too. I will not suggest 2 * hd 6870 here at all

 

[rijinpk1]

^ he is also gone a upgrade his cpu + oc too. I will not suggest 2 * hd 6870 here at all

Oc will not happen if he decides to get that xeon.

 

[Vish2a9l]

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

Calculate it.
I'm just saying, in case he is going to x-fire it, then 650 will suffice.

with the i5 and 6870cf config, Minimum PSU Wattage: 380 W
Recommended : 430 w
and with the fx 8350 and r9 270x, Minimum PSU Wattage: 348 W
Recommended PSU Wattage: 398W

 

[rijinpk1]

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

Calculate it.
I'm just saying, in case he is going to x-fire it, then 650 will suffice.

that is not the case here. ashish mentioned about the total power consumed by the dual gpu which is 350watts higher than the fastest single gpu 780 ti,, but at a lower performance.,

 

[Vish2a9l]

oops okay. but for another 6k, he can get a 6870 which is obv better than getting a new r9 270x as he will save more in 6870 and 270x might go way out of budget.

 

[rijinpk1]

oops okay. but for another 6k, he can get a 6870 which is obv better than getting a new r9 270x as he will save more in 6870 and 270x might go way out of budget.

that was what my point was

 

[Xai]

I still can't decide between FX 8350 and i5-4670K. I might even go for i7-4770K, but that's a bit too costly.

I get that there are two main points in favor of FX 8350 - one that its lower price point helps to get a better GPU, and second that the newer games seem to utilize multiple cores of the FX chip better. The disadvantage is, that each core of FX is weaker than each core of the i5.

I am not sure how the FX compares against the i5 in new games, even after the edge it gets in multi-core optimized games. Is the i5 going to fall behind, even with 4 stronger cores? Will FX 8350 perform better in newer games? How consistent will either chip be? Will 8 cores of FX be better than the more powerful 4 cores of i5? Is it wise to buy an older chip now?

 

[snap]

iirc watch dogs recommended cpu specs are i7 or fx 8350 and cpu will probably be upgraded after many years so my vote goes to amd